Agora Media Group Innovation Blog

Picked up this news from the LA Times blog.

It is not confirmed yet, but the blog mentions an subscription service of $9.95

“[...] according to people with knowledge of the plans.“

The subscription service should start on the 24th of May. Viewers will still be able to view the first couple of shows for free, but for additional shows needs to be paid.
At the end of the article, the mentioning of

“Ultimately, Hulu is expected to adopt the same commercial loads as network television.”

is interesting, because one of the differentiators is the load of commercials. If this will be within the same amounts of network televisions, a Hulu and other streaming video platforms need to position and gain an unique advantage through Content, social aspects etc. Of course syndication their content to devices like the iPhone and iPad could add value to their proposition as well.

Would you pay $9.95 to access a more comprehensive collection on Hulu?
What do you think of the advertising plans similar to existing television networks, are there other revenue models which generate the same or more and be less disruptive?

YouTube envisions future of television viewing – William Cooper at informitv.com with more brilliant insight

If you aren’t a lucky recipient of Cooper’s emails, you can sign up for free here.

He’s simply one of the smartest guys in the Social TV and TV 2.0 landscape and always connects the dots in a brilliant fashion.

YouTube envisions future of television viewing – 18 April 2010

It is just five years since the first video was uploaded on YouTube by one of its founders. Now over 24 hours of video a minute are uploaded to the site and it receives over a billion views a day. YouTube has its sights set on turning a few minutes a day watching videos on the web to something more like the hours a day we generally spend watching television. That vision could become a reality once televisions are routinely connected to the internet.

“People think about the world of TV and the world of online video as being different ways to distribute video,” said Chad Hurley, the co-founder of YouTube, in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper. “But what happens when every TV is connected to wi-fi with a browser?”

“That is what we envision. Instead of this world of online video and this world of TV there is just one world,” he said. “There won’t be a difference in the future.”

“The iPad — is that a phone or a computer?” he questioned. “If I put it on my wall is it a TV? People continue to try to throw things in the buckets when really these are all going to be different-sized devices with a connection to the internet.”

Read full article here

ps: I am about to get my connected TV next week here in Holland. Fresh off the shelves a Samsung with Internet@TV so will be running some tests and shooting video next month. For Dutch readers, yes, there are Dutch Apps already developed. Eerste Nederlandse widgets op Samsung-tv’s

by Gianluigi  Cuccureddu and Richard Kastelein

The following quotes are taken from ConnectedTVSummit and they do point out to a major shift in hardware which is followed by software/applications that will transform the industry and experience:

Global revenues for connected TVs will reach $29 billion in 2011, accounting for 58% of global revenues for Internet TV equipment that year. 12.5% of 2010 global TVs shipped will have connectivity, rising to 30% in 2011.
IMS Research, January 2010

Our research shows that within five years nearly all broadband households will own at least one web-enabled CE media device.The implications of this across the digital entertainment industry will be huge.”
Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst, January 2010

Game consoles already have the lead in this segment, which can mostly be attributed to gamer demographics . I think that even gamers will switch to accessing Internet video mostly on the TV in order to have a one-stop access point to the different content libraries. Having one programme guide is much easier to navigate then searching independently on different devices.”
Rebecca Kurlak, IMS Research consumer electronics analyst, January 2010

Worldwide shipments of web-enabled stationary CE devices will grow more than seven-fold from their 2009 levels to over 230 million by 2013.  There will be over one-half billion web-enabled CE devices in operation worldwide by 2013.
In-Stat, January 2010

CE device manufacturers will be able to enjoy revenue shares on content, which could be as high as 50%.
Rebecca Kurlak, IMS Research consumer electronics analyst, January 2010

When having a look at the timing of the quotes with regard to the evolution, the future of all this is closely. Also other institutions/articles point out to a first real shift in 2010 and 2011 where adoption and diffusion will reach a substantial figure.

Other interesting and positive quotes can be found in this recent analysis and article by Bloomberg:

It’s no longer a bridge too far for the average user,” said Michael Powell, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who now runs a media consulting firm. Using TVs to connect to the Internet “is a very natural extension of what they’ve already embraced in their technological life.

The difference now is new Internet televisions won’t require separate boxes, software and setup, says Steve Perlman, the founder of WebTV. The TV will already be connected to the Web, and consumers will get everything they need through that.

It is going to happen — it’s inevitable,” Perlman said. “We’re going to see a general movement toward having all of your content that is available through the Internet.

The fact is, it appears that the next generation of Internet-connected TV’s are going to come out faster than most anticipated, and this means  that the need for  Set Top Boxes (STB’s)  will eventually reduce and even possibly phase out in the future.  This is certainly a real game changer and lowers the perceive risks and complexity of the end consumers.

Perlman’s quote that we’ll see a general movement towards having all the content available through the Web is a positive outlook and simultaneously a challenge in not simply transferring media from device to device and not having a thorough look at the device, usage/purpose of device in relation to the needs and consumption of consumers.

This challenge was also pointed out in the Android TV article.

The industry is ready for it, most definately, what about the end-consumers?

Do you think there will be a fast adoption and usage? How will the collective experience of watching passive TV be impacted by elements of individual social interaction such as Twitter and Facebook via tv widgets and apps? Or will it?

Forty years ago, the brilliant Canadian media theorist Marshall Mcluhan, the  “patron saint” of Wired magazine,  (who brought us Electronic Interdependence, The Global Village and The Medium is the Massage) metaphorically considered the TV to be an ‘electronic’ hearth – a collective centralized event for the family on the cusp of it’s appearance in the home 50 years ago. By the end of the millenium, TV’s peppered houses and became a more individual experience. In the USA,  the average house now has 2.24 TV’s and 66 per cent of households have three or more TV’s.

Will the TV continue to evolve as an individual device in a new ‘TV Everywhere’ world? And just become part of a matrix of interactive devices available to each individual?

And how will Google fit into the picture? The world’s largest brand is certainly heading for the space. They are not issuing any formal statements on their future in this landscape, but look at what they want in their new hires – http://bit.ly/gootv.

We think that Google TV and Sony along with their other partners at Intel and Logitech could also play a large part in this new landscape.

Wow! That came out of left field -  unsuspected but… really – something that really makes sense when we consider TV Everywhere as a concept (at least for me!). If the iPad does get the traction that many are predicting (Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet computer hits US shelves on Saturday, April 3, 2010), and they do flog 10-20 million in 2010, the converging media landscape will really have a new player in terms of co-viewed TV and Social TV.

Personally, I have always had issues with watching video on mobile devices – not that I am blind, I can actually see well. But I just don’t enjoy the experience. Interactive TV on an iPad (24.3 cm × 19.0 cm × 1.3 cm) will certainly be more enjoyable and feasible for most consumers.

Will this be a one screen or two screen play? Or both?

“Part of the idea is that mobile devices are easier and more appealing to play with while watching TV than laptop or desktop computers — but the tablet will hit the sweet spot in between.” reports Ad Age, so let’s wait and see.

MTV Developing ‘Co-Viewing’ Apps for the iPad

Magazines and newspapers aren’t the only media eying big benefits upon the iPad’s arrival: TV is poised to use the device in new ways, including creating interactive, social apps designed to be used while watching live programming.

MTV Networks, for example, is developing a “co-browsing app meant to be used while watching live TV,” said one executive familiar with MTV’s iPad plans. “This means the iPad could be the appendage that makes interactive TV a reality.”

Kristin Frank, general manager of MTV and VH1 Digital, said MTV is focusing on two approaches to its apps, whether for mobile or the iPad: co-viewing apps that capture the social-media chatter around TV and awards shows and apps for video on the go. IPad apps for “Beavis and Butt-Head,” “MTV News” and “VH1 To Go” are all due in April, she said.

“Fifty-nine percent of people are multitasking when watching TV — that’s something we’ve always known,” said Ms. Frank, referring to recent Nielsen data quantifying a longstanding observation. “This is the next evolution.”

Mobile phone apps to run on the iPhone and Android devices remain MTV’s priority for 2010, Ms. Frank noted, but the iPad apps under construction are a reminder that TV is not about to sit the tablet out.

Read More…

Thought I would share my winning pitch for The Netherlands Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions 2010 Tech Visionary for futurist views on Social TV and Media Convergence.

I wrote it on the train on the way down… I actually forgot half of it and kind of made it all up again once I got up there. I had two minutes to pitch… in front of about 200 of Holland’s tech community who voted by SMS.

My name is Richard Kastelein, I am a Canadian of Dutch heritage and am currently working a Chief Strategy officer for a startup in Groningen called Worldticketshop as well as building a creative and innovation agency called Agora Media Group in London.

How many of you have young children out there?

In five years, your children and mine will laugh at the old days when certain programs were available only at certain times. We will too.

On demand TV  is just part of the great change we are going to see in the future… where media will be ubiquitous, and will no longer be the passive experience we now see today.

It’s called TV Everywhere.

I am going to go through four quick points.

1.       Production. The rise of User Generated Content has already and greatly shifted the Internet landscape and will do the same for TV. Merged media will be everywhere, video, audio, photography, 3D and more.

2.       Delivery – Entertainment will be available in the cloud – everywhere, on demand and available to anyone, anywhere.

3.       Consumption – This will be profoundly changed due to the future convergence of the Web and TV, where web widgets become part of the TV experience and viewing culture will be radically changed due to the inclusion of recommendation engines which will offer true reflection of consumer needs and wants.

4.        And lastly, Monetization. Last year, it was noted by MTV here that content companies are now driven by control of Intellectual Property. And that has too and will change. Business models will change. I call it tCommerce and it will also be a paradigm shift for the TV industry. Last year MTV also mentioned that new business models will need to come into place. We feel that affiliation models will rise – profit sharing rather than profit hoarding. The ability to shop on TV will be seamless and simple allowing for revenue sharing between the broadcasters and advertisers.

Already new players in the social tv space are building API’s and SDK’s to allow developers to make the shift from iPhone and Facebook to new models on TV. Yahoo Connected has an Open API, Europe ‘s HBBTV will likely be Open Source software as it’s based largely on Open IPTV and even BBC’s Canvas in the UK is pushing towards open standards.

I will wrap this up by saying that it’s my feeling that this could be the next ‘bubble’ in the market as TV is going be decentralized and it will, in the future, be owned by the audience in many ways. Unlike TV today…. Such as in the USA, where the networks are publically owned and contracting – with no sign of growth in the future.

Thanks for your time and feel free to contact me at the borrel if you are interested in chatting further. We are working on building products for this new space.

(Originally published at Atlantic Free Press)

by Richard G. Kastelein

If we all thought the Facebook and Twitter social media growth phenomena were extraordinary, wait until Social TV hits your screens.

And it’s not as far away as you think — not only with the logical IPTV market, but also terrestrial TV. I recently attended the International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, which bills itself as ’The content creation management delivery experience’. IBC2008 attracted 49,000+ visitors and 1,300+ exhibitors from more than 130 countries. This year is expected to be bigger. Last year, I was part of a team exhibiting at MIPTV in Cannes, and was expecting something a bit similar… but this was almost all about hardware and software and less about the actual formats and programs. However, this was not a disappointment. For embedded in the show there were some jewels… which have profoundly altered my view of Social Media, the future and the implication of reach that will touch billions not millions.
read more

by Richard Kastelein (originally posted on Atlantic Free Press)

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the European Broadcasting Union demonstrated the potential of the HbbTV specification at IBC2009 in Amsterdam. But it won’t be long before Europeans start seeing the results – before Christmas according to some pundits. And once compatible devices are out in the market, they say the speed-to-market of applications developed for the platform will be incredibly short… as the industry looks to new models that embrace open API’s and SDK’s much like Apple has done with the iPhone and the Open Source movement online with enormous projects such as Sourceforge. With an HTML environment activated by a simple red button, in the same manner as a Web portal, the resulting content can be delivered over the IP stream.
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